Mechanic tells drivers to 'steer clear' of some used cars despite cheap price

A top mechanic has issued a stark warning for to avoid certain second-hand used cars to dodge future woes. Sherwood Cooke Jr, the boss at Royalty Auto Service, is telling potential buyers to steer clear of snapping up old rental vehicles despite tempting bargains.

He alerted car enthusiasts that while there are fantastic deals on ex-rental motors with low price tags, the chance of later issues looms large. While providing reassurance that the upkeep of these is likely immaculate, he highlighted the possible wear and tear inflicted by various customers over time.

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In a candid revelation on the garage's TikTok channel, Sherwood warned: "Generally speaking, and I know there's going to be a thousand people saying you bought one and it was great, but generally speaking I wouldn't buy a used rental car."

He explained his hesitancy: "Why is that? The rental car companies tend to take care of them and they are going to do the services on them, they are going to do the oil services and stuff like that. So the maintenance part of it is going to be done."

However, Sherwood encapsulated the risk factor: "Unfortunately, the drivers of the vehicles don't know the vehicle. You're getting in a car that you may not know really well."

He continued to detail the concerns: "You're trying to mess around with it, you're looking at stuff while you're driving down the road, you're hitting potholes.

"Your attention is not 100 per cent on the road like it would be in your car. You know where everything is in your car if you need to turn the radio up you know where it is in your car. This car you're like looking around.

"You're somewhere where you don't know the city or the area that well. That's why you're renting a car you're probably in an area you don't know.

"So when you drive around your town you know where all the rough roads are and all the potholes are and stuff like that and you stay clear of that stuff.

"You're in a strange city and driving down the road, traffic is horrible and you're just driving along and you hit things all the time as far as potholes and stuff like that." Sherwood then emphasised that it was likely customers would be a bit more careless with rental vehicles than their own cars.

Although customers risk losing a deposit if the car is damaged, the idea of it being someone else's car could give drivers the freedom to drive a bit faster.

This is another reason why motorists should think about walking away from deals despite them likely having lower prices.

Sherwood added: "I would say you know maybe steer clear of that. Sometimes you can get good deals on them but be aware they are maybe a little rough around the edges on those cars."